An Adobe AIR application, this customizable, cross-platform media player provides new ways for viewers to discover and interact with their favorite content, while offering revenue and brand-building opportunities for content publishers. Additionally, Adobe announced Adobe TV, a network in Adobe Media Player with a series of shows that provides expert instruction and original series programming about Adobe products. Adobe Media Player is available for immediate download at http://www.adobe.com/go/mp .

Adobe Media Player can provide high-quality playback of streamed, downloaded or locally-stored video in the Adobe Flash format. For the first time, consumers can download video outside the browser in the Adobe Flash format, which can be viewed in 1080p, 720p or 480i video display resolutions with advanced audio quality. Users can also subscribe to television shows and other online video content and then automatically receive new episodes of the shows as they become available.

Some of the initial content available on Adobe Media Player includes: CSI: New York, CSI: Miami, Big Brother, Star Trek, Melrose Place, Hawaii Five-O, The Twilight Zone and MacGyver from CBS; clips from The Hills, MTV News and Yo! MTV Raps from MTV Networks; select shows on HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network and Fine Living Network from Scripps Networks; Epicurious.com, Style.com and Wired.com from Cond?Net; PBS programming and music videos from Universal Music Group. Additional content from MTV Networks? brands including MTV, Nickelodeon, COMEDY CENTRAL, VH1, CMT, Logo, Spike, The N, GameTrailers and Atom Films will be made available over the next several months.

"As the Internet has matured and video has become more and more popular, content owners are looking for new ways to connect with their audiences, both online and offline," said Melissa Webster, vice president, IDC Content and Digital Media Technologies. "Audiences want a great playback experience, including streamed or downloaded high-quality video. At the same time, content owners need to protect and monetize their content via premium services or advertising. This is the opportunity that Adobe is addressing with Adobe Media Player."

The player enables viewers to subscribe to free content, giving them control to watch their favorite shows both online and offline. The player also offers next-generation offline monetization and branding options, including viewer-centric dynamic advertising for targeted marketing campaigns and the ability to customize the look and feel of the player to match the brand or theme of the video content. Adobe Media Player can also provide content publishers with anonymous measurement of content usage data, such as when and how often a video has been viewed, in addition to supporting protection options such as protected streaming, advertising protection and video DRM protection.

Adobe Media Player is immediately available as a free download for Windows and Macintosh platforms from
http://www.adobe.com/go/mp